Filer Joyce - The Mystery of the Egyptian Mummy

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    OXFOR

    UNIVERSITY  PRESS

    In association

     with

     the  ritish Museum

    Mystery

    OF THE

     gypti n

    Mummy

    J O Y E

      FILER

    T

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    Who was Hornedjitef?  4

    2  Uncovering the  secrets of mummification  6

    3  How do we know about Hornedjitef, and other  mummies?  2

    4  Finding clues to Hornedjitef s home and family life

    5   What was Egypt like

     when

     Hornedjitef was

     alive?

    6  A servant of the god

    7  The mummy  speaks

    8

      Waiting in eternity: Preparing for the afterlife

    9  Hornedjitef:  The mystery solved?

    Glossary

    Index

    Further reading

     8

     

    6

    3

    6

     7

     8

     8

    This   book  is   dedicated with   love  to Ted and

      Rikki

      Barritt

    Grateful

     thanks

     to:  Suzan Aral at Jeffery

     Design

     for her excellent design

     work;

     Jim

     Stanton

      for

    designing

     a

     wonderful

     cover;

     Claire Thorne

     for

      drawng

     the

      skull

     and hip

     bones; Tania

     Watkins

    for

      help  throughout

     the project; Margot

     Rentoul, Paul Smith

     for

      radiography;

      Barry

      Chandler,

    Antony Reynolds, and Sean Goldner for CAT  scan images and advice; Carol Andrews,  Joann

    Fletcher,

     Nigel

     Strudwick for

      supplying

     photos;

     Sandra Marshall

     for skillful photography;

     Richard

    Neave

     and

     Denise

      Smith for the models on

     page

     24;

     Carol Andrews, Richard

      Parkinson, Neal

    Spencer,

     and

     Stephen Quirke

     for

      advice;

     The

     Honeybon family; Cassie

     and

     Nicole  Suleyman-Hall

    and  Isabelle

     Lemberger-Cooper

     for  help with photos; Carmen Lange, Patricia Neville, and Mary

    Power

      for

      advice;

     Ted and

     Rikki

      Barritt for support.

    Last, but certainly not

      least,

     an enormous thank you to Carolyn Jones, a wonderful editor

    with an enticing supply of sweets

    Illustration  acknowedgmen

    Photographs

     are  taken by the

    British

     Museum Photography &

    Imaging Department, © the  Tr

    of the

     British Museum, unless

    otherwse stated.

    Carol

     Andrews:

     23 top

    BFI Collections:

      15 left.

    Frances Button: front  cover

    illustration of Hornedjitef.

    stephanecompoint.com: 22 bo

    The

     Griffith Institute, Oxford:

     

    top left.

    Graham Harrison:

     7 bottom, 2

    right,

     28 top

     right.

    From

      Flinders

     Petrie:

     A

      if e

      in

    Archaeology  by Margaret Draw

    (Victor

     Gollancz): 13 top.

    Joyce Filer: 4 bottom, 7 top

      rig

    top  right, 11

     right,

     12 top

      left,

    bottom (wth the

     kind permss

    Girton College); 14 top

      right,

     

    right, 15

     bottom,

     16 top  right,

    top and center, 18 top, 18

     bot

    left, 19 top left, 19 bottom  rig

    bottom, 21 bottom left, 24 top

    25  bottom

     center and bottom 

    26  bottom left, 27 bottom

     left

    top

      left,

     31

     bottom

      right, 33, 3

    bottom left and

     right,

     41 top l

    Joann

     Fletcher, 31

     bottom

     left.

    The  Metropolitan

      Museum

     of

    Rogers   Fund

     1920. (20.2.21).

    Photograph

     ©

     1986

     The

    Metropolitan

      Museum

     of Art:

    bottom left.

    Peter Nahum at The

      Leicester

    Galleries:

     16

     bottom

     left.

    © The

     Museum

     of

     Mediterrane

    and  Near Eastern Antiquities,

    Stockholm. Photograph: Ove

    Kaneberg:

     5 top center.

    Princess

      Grace

     Hospital:

      35

      m

    picture),

     37 top

     center,

     38 bot

    right,

     39 top and center.

    Christophe Ratier/NHPA:

     18

     b

    right.

    Red-Head

     Photography: 27 top

    Rijksmuseum

     van

     Oudheden, L

    44

     top right.

    Roemer

      und

     Pelizaeus Museum

    Hildesheim,  Germany:

     9 top  ri

    Staatliche

      Sammlung Agyptisch

    Kunst, Munich:

     21

     right.

    Claire Thorne:

     23

     bottom righ

     map)  24 bottom right  map), 

    (bone drawngs).

    Contents

    Timeline

      3

     

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    Timeline  of ancient Egypt

    (c in a

     date

     is

     short

     for the

     Latin word

      circa

    which

      m e a n s

      around )

    ©  2003 J o y c e Filer

    First  pub l ished in  2003 by

    The  British Museum

     Press

    A

      division

     of The

      British

    Museum  Company Ltd

    46  Bloomsbury Street,

    London WC1B

      3QQ

    Publ ished in the

      United

     States

    of

     America

     by

    Oxford University  Press Inc.

    198

     Madison Avenue

    New

     York,

      NY

     10016

    www.oup.com

    Oxford

      is a registered

    trademark

      of Oxford

    University

      Press

    Inc.

    ISBN

     0-19-521989-9 lib.

     ed.

    ISBN

     0-19-521990-2 trade

     ed.

    Library of Congress

    Cataloging-in-Publication

    data  is

     available.

    D es i gned   a n d

     typeset

      by

    Je f fe ry  Design.

    Printed

      and

     bound

      in

      Hong

    Kong by C&C Offset.

    5500-3100

      BC  Predynastic period

    2686-2181

     BC Old Kingdom

    2181-2055 BC First intermediate period

    2055-1650  BC

      Middle Kingdom

    1650-1550 BC

      Second intermediate

     period

    1550-1069

     BC New  Kingdom

    18th

      Dynasty

    Amenhotep

      Hi

    Tutankhamun

    19th

      Dynasty

    Sety  I

    Ramesses   II

    Ramesses  III

    c

    1539 c. 1292

      C

    1390-1352 BC

    c. 1333-1323 BC

    c .

     1292 c.  1190BC

    1294-1279

     BC

    1279-1213

     BC

    1184-1153

     BC

    1 69 747

      BC

    747 332 BC

    332-30 BC

    Third  intermediate

     period

    Late

     period

     (including

     two

      invasions

     by

     Persians)

    26th Dynasty

     667-525  BC

    Herodotus

     (c.

     485-425

     BC), Greek

      historian,

     visits Egypt

    Alexander the Great (356-323 BC)

    Ptolemaic  period (when Hornedjitef lived)

    332 BC Alexander conquers Egypt

    331 BC

     Alexandria founded

    Ptolemy  I  Soter  c  367-283 BC

    Ptolemy III Euergetes  246-222 BC

    Ptolemy

      IV

     Philopator

      222-204 BC

    Ptolemy

      V

     Epiphanes

      204-181

      BC

    Rosetta Stone

      196 BC

    Cleopatra

      51-30 BC

    30

      BC-AD  395  Roman period

    3

    http://www.oup.com/http://www.oup.com/

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    ho

     was  o rned j i t e f

     

    This book

      is

     about

      an

     ancient Egyptian

      man

     named  Hornedjitef  (say this

     Hor-ned-jit-aP). Hornedjitef s mummy  is now in the  British Museum.

     

    ornedjitef was a real  man who lived over 2,000

    years ago in

     ancient Egypt,

     in a

     city

      called

    Thebes

     (now

     the modern city of Luxor). He

    held   a high-status job as a priest during the  time

    when

      the

      Greeks ruled Egypt,

     and

     when

     he

     died

    he

     was buried

     with

     full honors in a

     tomb

     in the

    Asasif  area

     of

      Thebes.

    Hornedjitef's titles were

     written

     on his coffin, and

    they tell

      us

     that

      he was a

     priest

      of the god

     Amun

    in the temple at Karnak. His  name

      means

      Horus

    who  avenges his father, in memory of the god

    Horus.

    After Hornedjitef died

     his

     body

     w as

     mummified

     an

    put into two  coffins one  inside the

     other.

     Both

    coffins were

      placed

      in a tomb. Various objects wer

    put in the tomb with his body. They were a papyr

    roll,

     a hardened

      linen

     sun-disc to  keep the

     mummy

    warm,

     a

     storage

     box

     meant

     to

      hold internal organs

    and a wooden statue of a god who  would

      help

      the

    mummy  reach the

     afterlife.

    We no longer know exactly where in the  Asasif are

    of

      Thebes

     his

     tomb was,

     but by

     looking

     at

     tombs

     o

    other priests of Amun of the

      same

     time we can

     te

    what it must have  been like. All the people who we

    involved in finding Hornedjitef's tomb  have

      been de

    a long time  themselves.

    The

      temple   at Karnak Hornedjitef may

    have

      walked

      by these  tall  columns   as

    he  went  about  h is   work

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    The   inner   coffin   o f an ancient

    Egyptian   m an

      named Nesiau (now

    in

      S tockholm).

      It is

      very   much l ike

    Ho rnedji tef s co ff in, which

      you can

    see   on   page 42.

    Other burials of the  period

    were probably similar

     to

      that

    of Hornedjitef. The mummy of

    another priest,

     called

      Ankh-hor,

    was  found

     at

     Asasif

      in a

     tomb

    from earlier times. There  is also

    another coffin, similar

     in

     style

     to

    Hornedjitef's inner coffin, in a

    museum

      in Stockholm,

     Sweden.

    Hornedjitef

     probably

      had a

    reasonably-sized tomb

     in the

    Asasif.

     The tomb was not

      likely

      to

    have been damaged

     by

     water

      or

    falling

     rocks. We can say this

    because

     his mummy and tomb

    goods are in  such  good condition.

    The

    collection

    If Hornedjitef lived, worked,

     and was

     buried

     in

    ancient Thebes, how did he come to be lying in a

    glass case in the  British

      Muse um?

     Many of the

    Egyptian objects in the  museum came

     from

      the

    collection of Henry  Salt

     (1780-1827).

     From 1815

    Henry  Salt

     was the

      British consul-general

     in

     Egypt.

    He spent a lot of

     time

     there excavating and collecting

    objects for the British Museum and for himself. In

    1835  one of Salt's collections  was brought to  London

    by

     Giovanni d'Athanasi, who worked with Henry  Salt,

    and

     sold

     by

     Sotheby's

     auction

     house

     in  London.

    That

      same  assistant

     wrote

     a

     catalog about some

    of  Salt s  collections, and about the  mummy of

    Hornedjitef he

     wrote:

      it is the finest in quality of all

    that have ever been found

      in

     Thebes.

    This

      is the

      title

      page

    f rom the

      Sotheby s

    cata log

      in

      which

    Hornedj i tef s mum my

      and his

    t o mb

      goods

      were l isted

      fo r

      sale

      in

     1835.

    for

    The British Museum bought the mummy of

    Hornedjitef

     and the

     objects from

     his

     tomb

     in

     this

    sale.

     Records

     show

     that

     they cost about $500.

    By studying these objects from Hornedjitef's tomb

    we can a lso  find out  about  his work as a priest and

    about the  beliefs and religion of the people who live

    in Egypt when he was alive.

    If

     we

      look carefully

     at his

     mummy

     we can

     make

     the

    most important discoveries

     of

     all—we

     can

     learn

    about the man Hornedjitef himself. Finding out abo

    a

     person who  lived a long

     time

     ago is an

    archaeological

     story

      and

     also

     a

     detective story.

      We

    will

     use some very modern ways of finding out abo

    Hornedjitef's  life.

    Hornedjitef

     has

     kept

      his

     secrets

     for

      more than 2,00

    years but now it is

     time

     to

      reveal them

     in The

     Myst

    of the

      Egypt ian

      Mummy

    consul general s

    MMummy

    s l

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    ornedjitef's mummy is a very fine example of

    the practice of mummification, a kind of

    embalming

    However,

      it is important to

      remember

    that the ancient Egyptians were only

      able

     to  make

    mummies

     of

      such high quality after hundreds

     of

      years

    of experimentation and practice.

    This  sand dr ied  body  is an excellent  example  o f a  natural  mummy.

    He is nicknamed

      Ginger

    because

      of the color of his hair.

    Natural  mummies

    Before

     they

     started

      to

      bury

     their

     dead

     as

    deliberately-made

     mummies,

     the

      ancient Egyptians

    buried people in the hot desert  sands. The extreme

    heat

     of the  sand quickly dried out the bodies, helping

    to preserve them. In

     many

      cases

     most of the body

    survived: skin, hair, teeth, and bones. These

      sand-

    dried bodies are described as "naturally mummified."

    Often strong winds

     or  burrowing animals

     shifted

     the

    sands allowing sand-dried bodies

     to be

     revealed.

     It is

    possible that the amazing sight of these preserved

    bodies

     made

     the  ancient

     Egyptians

     think and ask

    questions about what

      happened

     after death.

      eaching the

     afterlife

    Why did the

      Egyptians mummify

     their  dead? The

    Egyptians believed that, after they died, people wou

    go on a journey to an afterlife where they would b

    born

      again.

     To make sure this

      second

      life happened

    the

      Egyptians

     thought

     it was

     essential

     that

     the

      dead

    person's

     body was preserved. The  rule

      seems

      to b

    "no

      body,

     no

     afterlife " Obviously, people wanted

     t

    same things

     in the

     afterlife

     that

     they

     had in

     this life

    so  family

     and

     friends provided

     the

      dead  person wit

    food, animal

     skin

     coverings, pottery, and other  thin

    At  first these goods were put with the body  in ree

    baskets or  simple wooden  boxes but this  caused  a

     

    Uncovering the

     s e c r e ts

    of

     mummification

     

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    A   burial

      at

      Hierakonpolis

    from   about 3 400  BC. The

    skin  and

      hair

      have   no t

    survived

    because

      the   body

    wasn't

      buried  deep enough

    in   the hot

      desert  sands.

    Once

      this

      body

    was   put in a

      wooden

    box away

      from

      the hot

    Egyptian sands

      the  skin

    muscles and hair

    decayed leaving

      it

    as

      a

     skeleton.

    problem. Once the

      dead

    bodies were put in boxes

    or

      under

      animal

      skins

    they were

     no

      longer

     in

    contact with the drying

    effects

     of the hot

    desert  sands  and so the

    skin,  muscles and hair

    decayed. This

     also

    happened

     when the

      dead

    were buried  in tombs. So the

    Egyptians had to

      think

     of a way

    of providing the  dead with goods

    but at the  same time stopping the

    bodies

     from decaying.

     Perhaps

     they

    thought

     about  the good preservation of sand-dried

    bodies

     and

     experimented

     with

     ways

     of

     copying this

    method

      of

     preserving bodies. They

      needed a

    substance that mimicked  the drying-out action of hot

    sand. At  last they found the answer—salt

    Making mummies

    deliberately

    We

     know  that

     the

      Egyptians were trying

     to

      preserv

    bodies deliberately during the Old  Kingdom period.

    The newest evidence  from archaeological excavatio

    suggests that

     they were

     trying

     to do this much earli

    than experts had

     first

     thought.

      Some

     of the naturally

    sand-dried

      bodies from the predynastic  cemetery

    at Hierakonpolis, for example, were found wrapped

    in   pads  an d strips of   linen.  It is

     also possible  that

      the

    Egyptians

     were  using resin as part  of the

    mummification

      process at

     this

     time.

    During

     the time of the Old  Kingdom when the

    great pyramids at Giza were built,

     further

      attempts

    were  made to  preserve bodies. Layers of  linen and

    gypsum  were wrapped around the body and

    allowed

      to

      dry. Sometimes

     the

     features

     of the

     face—

    eyes eyebrows,  and

     hair—were painted

     on this soli

    casing in

     black

     paint However, nothing was done  to

    stop

     the

     body inside from rotting

    so

     many

    of th s

    Old Kingdom mummies were little more than

    plaster statues with loose bones inside

     

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    Better

    mummy-

    making

    The Egyptians continued  to

    try and improve  their

    mummification  skills  into

    the

      Middle Kingdom period

    but the  quality  of these

    mummies

     varies. Some

    were fairly

      successfully

    preserved

     but many were

    not.

      Some

      like Ankhef a

    mummy in the  British

    Museum are little  more

    than a skeleton beneath an

    elaborately-painted

      face

    cover. Reports from early

    20th-century excavations

    note

      that

     some Middle

    Kingdom mummies

    crumbled when touched.

      he

      mummy o f  Ankhef is

    really  just

      a

      skeleton

    covered   with linen.

    Four

      canopic   jars.  These  were made during the

    21st dynasty ma ny years before Hornedji tef l ived.

    The  well-preserved mummy

    of an  elderly woman. There   is

    a   large hole  in the  left side   of

    her

      abdo men where the

    embalmers took out the

    internal organs. Sometimes

    this was

      covered

      by a

      p laque

    l ike the one  above.

      lowing

     down

     decay

    It was only during the New  Kingdom period  tha

    the ancient Egyptians produced the  better-quality

    mummies.

     First

    the

      embalmers laid

     the

      dead perso

    on an embalming table. One of them  used a

     flint

     k

    to

      make

     a cut in the

      left  side

     of the abdomen

    between

     the

      ribs

     and hip

     bones.

     He

     then

     put his

     h

    inside

     the  body and

     took

     out all the  internal organ

    except the  heart.  By this time the  Egyptians had

    realized

     that it was the  internal organs such as the

    lungs

    liver intestines

    and

     stomach that started

      th

    rotting

     process  in a dead

     body.

      If

     they removed the

    organs decay would be slowed down. The organs

    were sometimes put in separate pots called canop

    jars.

    A

      knife used to cut

    open bodies during

    the

      process   o f

    mummification.

      he  b lade  is  

    fl int

     

    made of

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    Th e  weighing of the

     heart

    ceremony, from a papyrus

    belonging

      to a man  named  Ani.   Ani s  heart  is being

    weighed  against the feather of

     truth,

      to see if he had

    been

      a  good  or bad  person.  The god  Anubis  is

    supervising the

      weighing.

    These  scenes   of  mummification  are  painted

    on

      a  mummy

      case

      now in  Germany.  You can see

    Anubis, the god of embalming, looking after the

    body

      of a man named

      Djed

      Bastet-luf

    while

      it is

      being mummified.

    The

      Egyptians believed

     the

      heart

      controlled

      speech

    and thought and was

     therefore

      the body s most

    important   organ. They

      also

      believed  the  person

    would

      need the heart when he or she was judged

    before

      the

      gods

     in the

      next  life

     so it was left

      inside

    the  body.  A  long metal   hook was pushed  up the

    nose,  breaking  through the  bones  into the  skull

      case,

    allowing  the  brain   to be pulled out.   The  Egyptians  did

    not

     think

     the  brain  was

     important

    so it was not kept.

    On some oc casions the skull was packed

     with

      linen

    or

      resin,

     but

      sometimes

     it was

      left empty.

     The

      body

    was cleaned  and packed  with  bags   of   natron a kind

    of  salt found   in  certain parts  of  Egypt. Then   the

    whole body was covered

     with

     a pile  of

     natron

     that

    dessic ted   the body in the   same  way as the hot

    sands did for  naturally-dried mummies.  The

      natron

    also  killed off any

     b cteri that

     might

      cause

      the

    body to  decay.

    The

    How

      long

     did it

      take

      to

      make

     a

     mummy

      in

     ancient

    Egypt?

      The

      problem

      is  that

     while

      the

      ancient

    Egyptians

     wrote

      about many things  on  p pyrus  an

    painted many  scenes  from

     their

      daily   lives   on

     tomb

    walls,

     they

     left little

     information

     about their

    mummification practices. A  mummy  now in

    Hildesheim, Germany, has som e pictures of

    embalming on its  case,  but  they  do not tell us the  f

    story.

     The

      most detailed   information

     we  have   is

     fro

    a

      Greek

     writer

      named

     Herodotus

      (c .  485-425 BC).

    When

      he visited Egypt

     during

     the

      fifth

      century BC

    wrote  down what

      the

      priests  told

     him

     about

    mummifying bodies. They   said  the

      process

     took

    70

     days

     to  complete.   In  modern times people

      have

    done experiments

      to

      determine

      how

      long

      it

      takes

     

    mummify a body. T hey   have   found  out  that  it  takes

    40

      days

      to dry out a body,  and this  was probably   th

    time it took  in ancient Egypt.

      reek reporter

     

    UNCOVERING THE SECRETS OF MUMMIFIC TIO

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    Fashions

      in mummy-making

    After 40  days the

     body

     was

     washed dried

    and

    rubbed with oils to make the skin more  supple

    Often during this period the internal organs

     that

     had

    been

     removed were covered

     with natron

     and

    wrapped in

     linen. Then they were

     put

      back

     in the

    chest

     and stomach areas of the body. There were

    different

      fashions

      in

     embalming

     and

     sometimes

     the

    organs

     were put in canopic jars Often  a pl que was

    put over the embalming cut in the abdomen to  stop

    evil spirits

     from

     entering the mummy. There was

    another fashion that started in the

     21st

     Dynasty.

    After the pile of natron salt was removed the body

    always

      looked

     em ci ted  because all the

      moisture

    ha d

      been  removed.

     So the

     embalmers would

      push

    sawdust

     or

      linen strips under

     the top

      layer

     of

     skin

     to

    make

     the body look plumper. They would

      also

      place

    false eyes

      made from

     colored stone over the

      eyelids

    to  make the

      face look

     more lifelike.

    After

      the brain was

    taken out th e  head  of

    this

     mummy  left) was

    packed

     with  strips  of

    linen.

      The

      l inen strips

    are

      the  wavy

     white  lines

    in  the  X-ray

      film

      below.

    The

      feet

      of

    a mummy

    wrapped

      in

    l inen.

      The

    embalmers

      have

    made  some

    pretend  sandals

    from   linen.

    The all-important

    The body was then wrapped in

    many

      layers

     of linen strips. The

    embalmers  placed

     jewelry

      and

      mulets between the linen

    layers

     to

      protect

     the mummy.

    Sometimes

      a

     stone carved

     in

    the  shape of a sc r b

      beetle

    was

     placed

     on the

     chest

    near the heart. An

      inscription

    written

     on the

     flat  base

     of the

    he rt sc r b  said

     that

     the  dead

    man

     or woman had been a good person

    and

     would like to  enter the afterlife. The heart  sca

    was

      useful  for the  dead

     person when they were

    judged by the

     gods

    in  case the

     embalmers

     had

    accidentally

     pulled out the heart or if the heart had

    decayed When

     the wrapping was finished the

    embalmers

     put more jewelry on the mummy and

    perhaps placed a mask

     over

      the

      head

      and

     shoulder

    Black

     resin was poured over some mummies mak

    the outer

      layer

     of

     linen hard

     and

     strong.

      Now the

    mummy was

     ready

     to be put  into a

     coffin

     and

     then

    into its final resting place the

     tomb.

      tl

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    A

      f inished

      mummy

      in an

    anthropoid

      coffin

    Anthropoid

    means

      shaped

      like a

     person.

    Who was

     mummified

      in

     ancient

     Egypt?  Our

    information from the

     writer Herodotus shows that

    there were three grades

     of

     mummy-making, each

    with

     a

     different price.

      Even

     the

      lowest price

     was

    too  expensive  for ordinary people, so clearly

    mummification was only for the wealthy: priests and

    priestesses,

      nobles and, o f course, th e   king an d his

    family. We

      know

      our

      mummy Hornedjitef

      was a  high-

    ranking priest so we would expect  his body  to be

    mummified to the

     highest standard. Later,

     we will

    investigate

     whether this

     was true or

      not

    When

      a

     mummy

      is

     examined, sometimes there

      a re

    surprises.

     Occasionally, some parts

      of the

      body

     a re

    missing,  maybe an arm or a

     leg. This probably

    happened   as bodies waiting  to be  mummified  began

    to   decay  and fall apart.  In a few  mummies these

    missing

      limbs  are   replaced  by  sticks  of

     wood.

      In  oth

    mummies, for

      some reason,

     the

      ancient embalmers

    included

     extra

      limbs

     or

      skulls within

     the mummy

    package

    A

      mummified

      young

      baboon.

     Some   of the linen

     wrappings

    have

      fallen

      off,

      showing the

      animal's

      fu r

      beneath.

    The

      Egyptians

     didn't

     only mummify people. When

    they entered the afterlife they expected to see agai

    everything

     they

     had

     seen

      in

      this life, particularly the

    animals.  So a

     whole variety

      of

     creatures were

    mummified: birds, reptiles, fish

     and mam mals,  such a

    cats,

     dogs,

     and

     baboons. Visitors

     to

      temples

     in the

    Ptolemaic

     (and later

     Roman periods

      could buy

    an

     animal

     to

      offer

      it to a

     particular god.

    Mummy surprises

     

    UNCOVERING THE SECRETS OF MUMMIFIC TIO

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    A   modern

    archaeologist

    carefully

    uncovers

      an

    ancient  body  at

    an

      excavation

    in

      th e

     Delta

    area  of

      Egypt

    The

      beautifully

    decorated

      mummy of

    a

      young man named

    Artemidorus

      was given

    to

      the

      British

      Museum

    in  1888.  Flinders

    Petrie   found

      this

    mummy

      in a place

    named Hawara to the

    west  of

      modern

      Cairo.

     

    How

     do  we  know  about

    Hornedjitef and other

     mumm ies?

     

    he  mummies  we see in  m u s eu m s   today originally

    c am e  from  tombs

      in

     Egypt.  Many hundreds

     of

    mummies

      have

     already  been  found,

     and many

     more

    a re   likely to be found as archaeologists  look   for

    them on archaeological excavations It is

     important

    for us to

      think

     about

      how

     mummies

     were treated

    years  ago and what   happens   to them now.

    We are  a lways  curious about what   happened

    hundreds of  years  ago. Ideally,  on an  archaeological

    excavation all  information should  be recorded.

    Unfortunately, on some excavations done during the

    19th

     and

     early 20th centuries

     not

      everything

     was

    recorded properly,  and this  was  particularly  so for

    mummies.  In some

      cases

      use fu l information   was

    recorded

     but was

     later lost.

     For

      m a ny  mummies

     we

    do

     not know exactly where in Egypt they

      c am e  from,

    often

      because

     nobody bothered   to  write  down   the

    information. Fortunately, this wasn t

      a lways

     the

      case.

    Two archaeologists who worked in Egypt are

    particularly

      famous

      for the amount of detailed

    information they wrote  down about   the things they

    found on

     their

     excavations.

     

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    In

      this  1922 photograph

    th e

      British  Egyptologist

    S ir

      Matthew

      Flinders

    Petrie is

      striding through

    th e  Egypt ian

      desert

      at a

    place

      named Abydos.

    The  mummy

      of a

    young woman named

    Hermione.  ou  can see

    he r

      name written

      on

    th e  right-hand  side  of

    he r  portrait. Beneath

    he r

      name

      is the

      word

     grammatike.

    Once

    people

      thought

      this

    meant

      she was a

      school

    teacher

    Now we

      think

    it  means sh e knew  ho w

    to

      read

      and  write.

    Flinders

     Petrie

     (1852-1942)

      is  known  as the

      father

      of

    British

     Egyptology

    He

     thought

     it was

     very

    important to   record  all

     things found

      on an

    excavation. Flinders Petrie lived

     and

     worked

      in

     Egypt

    for a long time  and was

     responsible

     for

      finding

    hundreds  of mummies   and  other   objects.  At the   time

    when

      the

      Romans ruled Egypt many

     of the

      mummies

    had  a

     portrait

     of the

      dead person

     put in the

    wrappings. Petrie found hundreds

     of

     these

     portrait

    mummies,

     and two of

     them

     are

     particularly

    interesting

     as

     they

     have the dead person s name

    written on  them.  The

     mummy

      of Artemidorus   is in a

    reddish-brown  case

     covered

     with  beautiful gold

    decoration, and he can now be seen in the   British

    Museum.

     The

     mummy

      of

     Hermione

     is now in

     Girton

    College, Cambridge,   and her   linen wrappings   are in a

    diamond-shaped design.

      Both

     of   these mummies

    have  Greek

     names, like

      the

      kings

     who  ruled

      Egypt

    when

      Hornedjitef  was

     alive,

     but the

      actual people

    lived several centuries

      after

      him.

      linders Petrie

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    Th e  author,

     Joyce   Fi ler,

      examining   one of   Tutankhamun s

    coff ins   in the

      young   k ing s   tomb

      in the   Valley   of the

      King

    This

      photograph

      o f

      Howard Carter

      wa s

      taken

      a s

    he   worked   in the   tomb   o f   Tutankhamun   in the

    1920s. Howard Carter

      is the man on the

      left.

    statues Then of course, most   important, there wa

    the mummy of the  king himself. Howard   Carter a

    Dr.

     Derry,

     an

     English

     doctor working

     in

     Cairo,

    examined

     the  mummy of Tutankhamun. They foun

    ou t  that  he was about   18  years  old   when   he  died  

    that,

      even  though   he had

     been

      properly mummifie

    the  skin on the  mummy was in very

     poor conditio

    Not

      many people know  that  there were actually

    three

     mummies  in Tutankhamun s  tomb The

    mummified bodies of two

      babies

     were   also in the

    tomb. Carter and Derry examined them. They fou

    out that the mummies were  both girls and

     that

     on

    of   them would

      have

     been disabled  had she lived.

    Many

     people

     would

      like to

      think

     that these were  t

    daughters of Tutankhamun  but so far it is not  kno

    if

      they were related

      to the

      king. There were

      so

     ma

    objects  in the

     tomb that

      it

     took Carter

     ten

     years

     

    write down  all the

     information

     about  the objects h

    found.  It is thanks to his notes that we know so

    much   about this young king.

    Tutankhamusi

    When

     he was

      learning about archaeology,

      Howard

    Carter  (1874-1939) worked  with Flinders Petrie and

    probably learned to make detailed records  from  him.

    Howard Carter  is famous for  finding the tomb and

    mummy

      of

     Tutankhamun

      (c .

     1333-1323 BC),

     a

     young

    king who  lived during the  18th Dynasty.  In 1922, after

    working

     for  many years  in Egypt,

     Carter

     found  the

    tomb, which

      had

     been accidentally covered over

      by

    the

     stone chippings

     from the

      building

     of

      another

    tomb

      nearby. Tutankhamun s

     tomb

     was packed

     with

    hundreds of  items that had been buried

     with

      him,

    including shrines

    furniture,

     chariots, jewelry, and

     

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    Strange goings on

    Europeans  have been  interested

      in

     Egypt

     and

    mummies

     for

      quite

     a long time. The English

    playwright William  Shakespeare mentions mummies

    in some of his plays and, of course, he wrote  the

    famous  play

      ntony

     and

     C leopatra.

      In the  17th century,

    Samuel  Pepys mentions

      in one of his

     diaries that

     he

    saw Egyptian mummies  in a warehouse.

    A

     scene from

      on  old

      black-and -wh ite film telling

      the

      story

    of  Antony   an d   Cleopatra th e  famous Egyptian queen.

    Europeans

     and Americans are among those who

      have

    done strange

      and destructive

     things  with  mummies.

    For example,

     in the

      16th century, King Francois

     I of

    France (1515-47) believed  that  Egyptian mummies

    had

     magical powers and eating

     them would

     cure

    illnesses, so he always

     traveled

     with a bag of  crushed

    mummy powder and rhubarb. Powdered mummy has

    also been used

     to

      make brown paint

     for

      artists.

     An

    American paper factory

      owner

     used linen mummy

    wrappings

      to

      make

     brown

     paper,

     and

     when coal

     was

    too

      expensive

     to buy for the

     Egyptian steam

    railways mummies were burnt as fuel Thousands

    of mummies

     have

     already been destroyed.

    The

      right hand from

      a

      mummy .

    M u m m y   hands were often

    snapped

      of f

      because people were

    interested in the rings on the fingers.

    English

      tourists visiting the

    Giza

     pyramids   in

     1899

    Souvenirs

    In the  19th  century many Europeans traveled around

    Egypt and brought back mummies as souvenirs.

    These were

     often sold

      in

     auctions

      in

     Europe

     and the

    United States.

      If it was too

      difficult

     to

      travel with

     a

    whole mummy then often  heads, hands, or  feet

    would be snapped off and kept.

     There

     was such a

    demand

     for

      mummies

     that

     local Egyptians would

    make fake ones

     to

      sell

     to

      European tourists. Today,

    most tourists are more interested  in  learning about

    ancient

     Egypt

      than

     collecting

     bits of

      mummies.

      poster

    from  1842

    advertising

    some mumm

    on show  in

    Bath England

    It

      cost about

    seven   cents

    to

      see the

    mummies .

     

    HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT HOREDJITEF?

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    Europeans were very  curious

      about  how

    mummies

      were

      made and why   they  lasted so

    long without   decaying. Until   recently  there

     was

    no way of

     examining

     the

      inside

     of a

      mummy

    without

     taking

     it

     apart. Often

      these

    unwrappings   (or  unrollings  as they were

    sometimes

      known)

     were  social occasions.

    Many mummies were destroyed  by unwrapping

    them. Only on a few  occasions were  these

    mummy unwrappings done scientifically,

     with

    the

      person  doing

     the  unwrapping  writing  down

    what he saw.  In  1825  Dr.  Augustus  Granville,  a

    doctor

     to

      Queen

     Victoria s   family,

     wrote

     about

    a  female mummy and coffin)

      he had

     bought

    from

     an

     American

     for

      four

     dollars. He

    unwrapped the  mummy

      before

     an  audience

    and gave away pieces

     of the mummy to

    members

      of the

      audience,

      but he

     kept  some

    for  himself. These he  labeled  and  then  put in a

    specially-made box.  It is

     likely

     that   many

    mummies  were

     destroyed

      in this   way.

    The  author explains  th e  myste

    of Egyptian tombs to two yo

    companions,  Verity  and 

    Before  X

      rays

      were d iscovered, mummies

    were

      unwrapped

      to  find  ou t

      their secrets.

    In

      this 19th-ce ntury painting a group of

    French   Egyptologists a re   taking  a

    mummy  apart.

    The

      mummy  of  Hornedjitef  in its  decorated

    cartonnage   cover,

      lying

      in the bottom  half  of

    th e   inner coffin. You can  read more about

    th e   coffin  on

      pages

      40-43 .

    Unwrapping mummies

      6

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    After

      excavating an

      ancient

    Egyptian

      body

      in

     northern

    Egypt the  author

      records

    important details such

      as its

    condition

    measurements and

    the  grave goods   in the  tomb.

    Archaeologists carefully

    brushing   a   sand-dried

      body

    covered

      with  a

      reed

      mat.

    X

    These  days we  have a different attitude toward

    mummies. We want to  know about them  but we do

    not

     need

     to

      destroy them

      in

     order

     to

      find

     out

      about

    them. We can use

     different types

     of X  rays  to

    examine

     them. The mummy of Hornedjitef was

    studied

      in

     this way.  Scholars also  have

     an

      improved

    attitude toward mummies found

     on

     archaeological

    excavations. Wherever

     they

     are

     found

    in

     tombs

      or

    in the ground it is important that all

     information

     is

    recorded  in different ways. Once things are moved

    it is very difficult  to  rely only on  memory.

    t

    How

      might

      a

     mummy

     or

      skeleton

     be

     recorded

     on a

    excavation? As

     soon

     as a

     mummy

      is

     found

      it

     should

    be  photographed and possibly drawn before

    anything else

      is done. Then  any

      sand

      an d stones

    around the  mummy are cleared away carefully using

    either

      a trowel or a

     brush. When

     the

     mummy

     can b

    clearly

      seen

      it

      should

     be

      measured

     and

      photographe

    again The

     mummy

      is

     then brushed carefully

      to

    remove dust and dirt. Then details of the condition o

    the mummy its  measurements and decorations are

    recorded. Only after

      all

     this

     has

     been done

     can the

    mummy

     be

     carefully moved

     into a

     storehouse.

     Som

    archaeological groups working  in Egypt have their

    own portable X-ray machine to examine mummies.

    r ys

     

     e ording

     et ils

    HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT HORNEDJITEF

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    hen Hornedjitef grew

     up he became  a

     priest

    in a temple  in Thebes. What was his life like

    before

     he

     became

     a

     priest? When Hornedjitef

     was

    alive

     the Greeks ruled Egypt. Thebes was the Greek

    name

     for the ancient town the

      Egyptians

      called  Waset.

    Thebes had been  an

     important

     town  in Egypt for a

    long time

     and

     many rulers

      chose   it as

     their capital.

      he river  the

    Thebes

     was

     built

     around the Nile River, which at

    4,350

      miles   is the

     world's longest river.

     The Nile had

    a

     great influence on how the people of Egypt lived.

     v ry year the river would flood its

     banks,

     spreading

    a thick layer

     of

     fine soil called  silt

      across

     the

     fields.

    This silt was so rich  it was almost

     black.

     This  caused

    the

      Egyptians

     to  call

     their  land Kemet,

     or the

      Black

    Land. Farmers dug

     channels

      in their fields to bring

    the

     water  from

     the

      river

      and

     then they planted crops

    in the fertile silt and waited for  them to grow. If in

    some  years

     the

     river flooded

     too  much

     then

     the

    crops would drown,

      and if in other

      years  there

     was

    not enough water  the crops could not begin to grow.

    A

      modern

    Egyptian

      bo y

    carrying bundles

    of

      reeds

      on his

    donkey.

    The Nile

     River

     was also  the

     country's source

     of

    water

      for

      drinking

      and

     washing,

     as

     well

     as a

     means

     

    travel. Boats made  of bundles of  p pyrus  or

      light

    wood, with

      linen

      sails,

     would

     go up and

     down

      the

    Nile collecting and delivering food and other goods

    including mummies going to  their funerals.

    Next to the fertile

     strips

     of

      land  were large areas

    of dry desert where nothing would grow, so the

    Egyptians buried their  dead  there. On the west ba

    of the

     Nile

     opposite

     Thebes

     there are large

     areas

     

    rock formations where tombs were built. The

    Egyptians

     were nervous about the desert,  especiall

    at

     night,

      because

     they knew wild  animals,

      such  as

    jackals

      lived

     there.

    Farmers dug

    channels,  or

    ditches,  in the

    fields  to allow

    water to

      travel

    to

      their

      crops.

    The   ancient

      Egyptians

      feared

    jackals

      like

      this

      one but they  

    admired  the animal s

      cleverne

    They   associated  jackals

     with

    Anubis, the god of

     embalming

    Finding

     c lu e s to

    Hornedjitef s

    home and

     amily  life

     n

    esert

     

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    Daily life

    Egyptian houses  today are

      similar

      to those

    from  ancient times.

    Hornedjitef s

      home

    Hornedjitef s family was probably  fairly wealthy.   He

    has  left  us no

     information

     about   his family but  they

    probably lived

     in a

     house similar

     to

      those  seen

     in

    Egypt

     today.

      It

     would  have

      been  one or

     more stories

    high, built  of bricks made

     from

     mud. The windows

    would

      have

     been

     small to

      keep

     out the

     heat

     and

     flies.

    Like

     today, people spent

     a lot of

     time outside.

     His

    family might  have had a garden with  a pond stocked

    with

     fish,

     and

     some trees

     to

      provide  shade

    Hornedjitef s

      house  may

      have

      had a garden

      with

    a pond surrounded by  fruit  trees like this  one

    from  a New

      Kingdom

      tomb painting.

    As the young  Hornedjitef  walked around Thebes he

    must

      have

     seen people

     getting

     on

     with their

     daily life

    He saw the farmers

     working

     in the  fields

     growing

    fruit, vegetables,  and grain for   making

     into

     bread.  An

    important

     job was looking after the animals—sheep,

    goats,

     and

     cattle. These animals  provided

      the

    Egyptians with  milk,

     meat,

     and

     skins

     for

      making

    leather. They  also  got meat  and eggs  from  birds,   suc

    as  ducks, geese, pigeons,  and chickens.

    Tomb  paintings

      show  how

      important cattle

      were

    to the   ancient  Egyptians.

    As he passed different  workshops  Hornedjitef  saw

    meat

     being prepared

     and

     bakers making bread

     in ho

    ovens

    Bread

     was the

     main part

     of

     everybody s meal

    and  was made in the

      same

     way as it is in Egypt today

    Loaves  of partly-baked bread were  also put

     into

     large

    jars  with

     water  to

     f rm nt

     and make beer.

    A   modern

    Egyptian

    woman

    baking

    bread in a

    cone-shaped

    oven just

      as

    people

      did

    thousands

    of

      years

    ago.

     

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    Like other ancient

    Egyptians Hornedjitef wore

    simple

     clothing made

     out of

    linen, which helped

     to

      keep

     him

    cool. The Egyptians grew fields of

    flax. This provided

     thread

     that could be

    spun and woven into  linen for  clothing,

    bedsheets

     and, of course, wrappings  for

    mummies. Many Egyptians walked barefoot

    but  Hornedjitef  would  have protected his feet

    by

     wearing thonged

      sandals

    rather  like modern

    flip-flops, made from papyrus.

    Hornedjitef  may

    have

     worn papyrus

    sandals

      like

    these

    It is important to

      remember

     that

     when

      Hornedjite

    was

     a boy living in

     Thebes some

     of the monum n

    that we

     think

     of as ancient were already old Like us

    he

     too  would

      have walked

      by the

      Colossi

      of

      Memn

    and   he may even have visited  the  pyramids  and the

    Sphinx

     at

     Giza, perhaps with

     his

     father.

    Th e  Colossi  of Memnon ore

    tw o   huge statues standing

    about  59   feet  tall They  we

    already  hundreds  of   years

    old   by the   time Hornedjitef

    was   born

    20

      ool clothes

      ncient monuments

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    A

      tomb painting

    showing

     servants

    carrying

      a

      gazelle some hares

    and

      bundles  of cereals.

    As   he was growing up, the two  most  important

    things

     in

     Hornedjitef s  life were

     his

     family

     and his

    education. We do not   know  how many people there

    were  in his family, or how  many

     brothers

     and

     sisters

    he

     had, but we do know

      that

     families in ancient Egypt

    could

      be  quite large.  His father  was   head  of the

    household

      and

     made

     all the

      important family

    decisions.   It is possible

     that

     his father was also a

    priest. His mother  was in charge of

     running

     the

    house   and because   his family was wealthy they

     would

    have  had

     servants

     to

      help

     her with  the work.

     Like

    people today  Hornedjitef  may  have   had a pet dog,  or

    a cat

     similar

      to

    those we see in

    Egyptian paintings

    and statues.

    Hornedjitef  may

      have

      had

    a pet cat  like this one

    which

      is

      identical

      in

     color

    to cats seen in  Egyptian

    tomb paintings.

    In ancient Egypt most people could not  read and

    write. Those who could were able to get good jobs

    as

     scribes. People

     would

     pay

     scribes

     to

     write

     their

    letters for

      them.

     A scribe could earn a good living

    working for wealthy landowners, recording numbers

    of cattle  and how much food was produced.

    Hornedjitef  was

     taught

     to  read and write

     either

     at

    school or by a tutor  at home. Surprisingly, we do no

    have

     much

      information from

     ancient Egypt

     about

    actual schools. We do know  that groups  of boys

    practiced

     writing

     stories

     and

     reading aloud

     and that

    they learned arithmetic. They

     wrote with  a

     brush

     an

    ink on wooden boards covered with

     gesso

    ny

    mistakes  on  these could  be   easily wiped out.

    Although Hornedjitef does not

      tell

     us anything  abou

    his education,  we can

    look at the words  of

    another high priest

      of

    Amun  at Karnak, Bek-

    enkhons. He lived much

    earlier than Hornedjitef,

    during the reign of the

    king

      Ramesses

      II

     (1290-

    1224 BC . Some writing

    on a

     statue

      of

     Beken-

    khons

     tells  us

     that

     he

    spent four

      years  in an

    elementary school  in a

    temple

     at Karnak. Then

    he  learned  to be an

    administrator  an d this

    took

     him

     another

     11

    years. After  that

     he

     went

    on to  become a  priest.

    Th e

     writing

      on

      this statue

      of

    the

      priest Bekenkhons

      tells u

    about  th education of wealt

    young

      men in   ancient  Egypt

    We do not

     know

     how long Hornedjitef s  education

    took.

     He

     obviously learned useful things  because lik

    Bekenkhons he went  on to  become a high-level

    priest  at  Karnak.

    Going school

    Hornedjitef s family

     2

    HOW DO WE JNOW ABOUT HORNEDJITEF?

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    hen

     Hornedjitef

     was alive, the

      Greeks ruled

    Egypt.

     The Greeks did not

      call their

     rulers

    Pharaoh

     like the Egyptians, they called them kings.

    The

     king

     at

     this time

     was called

     Ptolemy III.

      He

     ruled

    from 246 to 222 BC. But how did a

     Greek family

    come to

      reign

      in

      Egypt?

    At

      various times during

     Egypt's

     history when there

    wasn't a strong ruler, the country was taken over by

    foreigners.

      In 332 BC a

     Greek king named Alexander

    (356-323

      BC)

     conquered Egypt when

     he was

     only

    20

     years

     old. But this was not the first time

     that

    foreigners had

     taken over Egypt. When Alexander

    arrived, people from  Persia (modern Iran) were

    already ruling Egypt.

     The

      Persians

     had

     invaded

     and

    conquered the  country  in 343 BC. Alexander planned

    a new

     capital city

     on the northern

     coast

     of

     Egypt

     in

    the

      elta

     area.

     Although he did not

      live

      long enough

    to see the

     city

     finished it was

     named

     after him.

    Alexandria continued

     to be the

      capital

     of

     Egypt

    during the  years

     that

     the Greeks ruled Egypt.

    The  tolemies

    After

     Alexander died

     in 323 BC one of his

     generals

    took control of Egypt. His

     name

     was Ptolemy (c.

    305-285

     BC) and his

     descendants ruled Egypt

     for

    300

      years This

      is

     known

     as the

      Ptolemaic period.

    Ptolemy I continued building the city of Alexandria

    and

     made  it an

     important

     cultural center. He order

    his

     architects  to  build the Pharos lighthouse,  one o

    the

      seven wonders

     of the

     ancient

     world, and the

    Alexandria library. This library was the greatest in

    the

      classical world,

     but it burned down during a wa

    between

     Egypt

     and Rome in 30 BC.

     Recently, under

    water archaeologists

     have been

     working

      in the

    Mediterranean  Sea ooking for  buildings and statues

    that

     fell into the sea

     from

      Alexandria.

    Coins

      showi

    portraits of

    Ptolemy III

    and his wife

    Berenice.

    Hornedjitef  lived during the reign of Ptolemy III.

    Ptolemy's

      second

      name was

     Euergetes, which  mean

     benefactor,

    so he is

     often known

     as

     Ptolemy

      III

    Euergetes.

     Ptolemy's wife was Berenice II. They had

    six

     children.

     We  have

     some

     idea of

     what Ptolemy I

    Queen

     Berenice

      II, and

     their

     son looked like from

    their

     statues

     and

     from

      their  images on

     coins.

    An   underwater  archaeologist working   on the

    sea   bed near  Alexandria

    What

     was

     Egypt like when

    Hornedjitef

     was alive?

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    The

     new

     Greek rulers respected

     the

     cultures

     and

    traditions

     of the

     Egyptians

     and for the

     ordinary

    person

     life carried

     on in the  usual

     way.

     The new

    rulers, however, spoke Greek and this was the official

    language

     under the Ptolemaic kings. It is

     possible

     that

    many of the rulers did not  even

      speak

     the Egyptian

    language.

     The most

      famous

     member of the Ptolemaic

    rulers, Queen Cleopatra  51-30 BC), was  different.

    She could speak Egyptian, her own Greek language,

    and

      several

     other

      languages as well. By this time,

    hieroglyphs were only  used for religious inscriptions

    and  the  priests  used a script

      called

     demotic  for

    ordinary  writing. As the people living in Egypt at this

    time understood different  languages we sometimes

    see

     the

      same

      important information from

     the

      king

    written in more than  one language. The  Rosetta

    Stone,

     now in the  British Museum, is a good example

    of this. Written  in 196 BC after the

      time

     of Ptolemy

    III and Hornedjitef) it has a de ree from Ptolemy V

    on it. The  message  is written in two  languages

    Egyptian and

     Greek,

     and in three scripts—two types

    of Egyptian writing and the Greek alphabet.

    The

      Rosetta Stone

    T he

      same

    message is writt n  in the

    Greek  language and

    in the Egyptian

    language

    peaking and writing

    Queen Cleopatra and her son Caesarion

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    We

      know

      a

     good deal about life under

     the

      Ptolemaic

    kings  because

     of the large number of papyrus scrolls

    that have been found  in Egypt, many of them written

    in Greek.

     The

     Ptolemaic kings were very good

     at

    administration,

      and at

     keeping

     written

      records. Some

    of the

      scrolls that  have been found

     are

      letters,

     some

    are lists.

     Others tell us

     about

      the

      laws

      in

     Egypt

     at

     this

    time

     and what people bought and sold. These scrolls

    also

     tell

     us of some of the  problems

     that

     upset the

    Egyptian

     people.

     At one time

     under Ptolemy

      III the

    people were  fed up

     with

     paying taxes (just like

    today ). They complained

     and

     rioted.

     Other

     scrolls

    show

     that

     the native Egyptians were  not

      always

     on

    friendly terms

     with the

     Greeks

     who

      came

     to

      live

     in

    Egypt. Some Egyptians

     felt that

     the Greeks were

    treated better

      than they were.

    There were many different peoples living

      in

     Egypt

     at

    this

     time. In the

     streets

     of the

      cities

     you

     could

     see

    Egyptians,

     Greeks,  Persians

    and

     Nubians. Sometimes

    these

     different peoples

     intermarried and had

     children.

    Measurements were token  from

      tw o

      skulls  from   unwrapped

    mummies

      to

      make these model heads. Lef t :

      a

      bronze model

    o f a

      middle aged  man Right:

      a wax

      mode l

      o f a

      woman.

    Both

      l ived in  Egypt  d ur ing the Greco Rom an per iod.

    A   Nubian man

    he of the

    Before

     the

      Greek period

      in

     Egypt

     few

      people  used

    money. Usually people bartered items  such as

     food

    pottery, and

     clothing

      for  other

      things

     that

      they

    needed. In

     Ptolemaic times, silver

     and

     gold coins

    were  used

     to buy

     these goods.

    riches

    world

    R ecords and r iots

     

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    Like

     the  other

     Ptolemaic kings, Ptolemy

      III was

    interested  in  trading  with  other  countries. Egypt

    exported papyrus, linen,

     and

     grain

     to

      exchange

     for

    items people needed and could not produce

    themselves.  So

     traders traveled south

     into

     Nubia

    trading for

      gold, heavy woods like ebony

     for

      building,

    exotic

      animals

      like

      big

     cats

      and

     giraffes

    ivory,

      and

    spices.

     They  went  north  to  different parts  of the

    Mediterranean area, exchanging heir  goods for

      cedar

    wood

      from

     Lebanon, olive

     oil

     from  Crete,

     and

     silver

    from

      Syria.

     They   also  traveled

      east

     to Arabia looking

    for  incense and  other

     exotic

     goods. Today p pyrus

    grows

      in Palermo,

     S icily because

     Greek traders  took

    it there.

    A  tomb painting

      showing

     Nubians

    carrying gold and foodstuffs.

    Notice the man

    on

      the

      right

      is

    carrying the

    skin  of a

     i

    cat

    Troubles

    In

     the ancient

     world

     during the time of Ptolemy III

    Egypt was  quite  a  strong  and wealthy  country.

    Occasional ly

     wars broke

     out and if

     Egypt felt

    threatened, then Ptolemy

      III

     would

      send

     his

     army

      to

    fight.

     When  soldiers returned

      to

      Egypt after fighting

    Ptolemy

      III  gave

     them land

     in

     return

     for

      their  service

    The

     soldiers  built   houses

     on

     this land

     for

      themselve

    and their  families.

    Evidence from

     mummies and skeletons tells us  that

    people in  Hornedjitef s time   became

      sick

     just  a s  the

    do today. People

     suffered from   headaches

    toothaches, and back problems. Sometimes people

    broke

      their   arms and   legs or

      suffered

      serious

    diseases

      like leprosy or tuberculosis. In the ancient

    world

     people

     thought that

     Egyptian doctors were

    very good,

     and it is

     possible

     that  there

     were doctors

    to  look after particular parts  of the  body. Wealthy

    people

     paid doctors   to try and  cure them,   but  poor

    people had to  help  themselves. As  well  as taking

    herbal medicines, both  rich and  poor  people

      used

    magic

      spells to help them get

     better.

    Many  ancient

      Egyptians

      had   badly  worn

    teeth

      like

      this.  Some

      had

      painful

    abscesses  tooth

      infections .

    Many ancient

     Egyptians

      ha

    backaches

      caused

      by

      arthr

    The wavy edges on  these

    bones

      in the

      spine  show

    damage

      caused  by

      arthritis

     

    WHAT WAS EGYPT LIKE

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      servant  o f

    the god

    Th e   go d

      Anubis

    an d

      the god

      Thoth

    R

    eligion was a very

      important

     part of ancient

    Egyptian

      life.

     There

     were more

     than

      s e v e n

    hundred gods and goddesses. The Egyptians believed

    that there

     was a god to

      look after

     every event  or

    problem  in life. The

     most

      important

     gods

     and

    goddesses had

     their

     own temples,

     where

     groups  of

    priests and priestesses

     worked

     for the god. People

    believed

     that

     the temple was the

     home

     of the

      god.

    Many of the gods and goddesses had particular

    animals associated

     with

     them.

      Thoth, the god of

    learning and writing, was associated with the  ibis bird

    and with baboons. Cats

     were the

     animals associated

    with

     Bastet, a

     protective

     goddess. Anubis, the god of

    embalming, was

    associated

     with

     the

    jackal. Some of these

    animals,

     such

      a s cats  a n d

    ibises,

     lived

      in the

    temple  and were looked

    after

     by servants. Many

    of these animals

    representing

      a god were

    mummified

     and buried in

    tombs when they died.

    A  statue of  Horus

    as

      a falcon from the

    temple

      at   Edfu

    The

      massive  entrance

      to the

      t mpl

    at Edfu You can see

    the two  large falcon

      statues

      on

      either

      side

      of the gateway

    Temples

    We can still see

     many temples

     from different

      perio

    in Egyptian  history, for  example Luxor Temple, beg

    in the

      time

     of Amenhotep  III  1390-1352 BC), the

    Ramesseum, built by  R a m e s s e s  II  1279-1213 BC) a

    Medinet

     Habu,

     built

     by

      R a m e s s e s

      III

      1184-1153

     BC

    There are several surviving temples  from the

    Ptolemaic

      period.

     The Ptolemaic kings spent a grea

    deal of money

      building them,

     and

     they

     have lasted

    well.

     Of all the temples  in Egypt, the best preserve

    is at Edfu in

     Upper

     Egypt It is the Temple of

    Horus, who has the

      falcon

     as his

     special

     creature.

    The

     temple

     at Edfu is one of the largest in Egypt an

    is

     decorated

      with

     carvings showing the

      feasts

     and

    festivals that

     happened in the  temple every year. Tw

    big,  beautifully carved statues of Horus as a falcon

    stand at the entrance. The Temple of Dendera is in

    Upper Egypt

     and

     belonged

      to the

     goddess

     Hathor.

    Hathor was the goddess of  love and beauty, and he

    associated animal

     was the

     cow. Other famous

    temples dating to  Ptolemaic times are at  E sna Phila

    and Kom

     Ombo.

     

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    The Temple

     o

    murt

    The most

      important

     temple  in this

     story

     is the

    Temple

     of

     Amun

     at

     Karnak, where

      Hornedjitef

    worked

     as a priest. Amun was the most

      important

    god of

     ancient Egypt.

      His

     associated animals

     were

     the

    ram

     and the

     goose.

     His

     name meant The Hidden

    One. Statues

     of

     Amun

      or

      pictures

     of him on

      temple

    walls show him wearing  two

      tall

     feathers on his

     head

    and a false

     beard. Ptolemy

      III built a

     beautifully

    decorated gate to  honor the god near one of the

    temples at  Karnak.

    Although

     Hornedjitef

     worked in the Temple of

    Amun, he was no

     ordinary priest.

     The

     many

     titles on

    his

     funerary papyrus

     and

     coffin suggest

     that he was a

    very high-ranking  priest.

      It is

     possible

     that he was so

    high up in his profession

     that  lesser

      priests

      thought

    he

     had

     special

     powers. How did he get to  such a

    high position?

      la rge decorated gate a t the Temple o f Karnak. I t was

    built

      by

      King Pto lemy

      II I

      Euergetes.

    The

      ra m

    was

      one o

    th e   creatu

    associated

    with   th e

    chief

      o f

    gods Amu

     

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    Statue

      of a

     young

    priest He has a

    shaved

      head and

    wears

      a

      short

    linen

      kilt

    to be a

    As a child Hornedjitef was taught to read and write,

    just like

     other

      boys who hoped to be

     scribes

      or

    priests.  Hornedjitef  has not  left us any information

    about how he trained to be a priest, but our friend

    the

     priest Bekenkhons

     does

     tell

     us

     about

     his

     training.

    After 15 years of education

     Bekenkhons

     went to

    work

     as a priest in the Temple of Amun at Karnak.

    He started as a low-level priest, and it  seems he was

    told what to do by his father, who  also worked in the

    temple. Bekenkhons

     stayed

     at this  level for four

    years, and then little by little he was given promotion.

    The inscription on his statue tells us

     that

     after

    This  photograph  shows  ho w   massive   the Karnak

      temple

    area  really is

    39

      years

     he

      became

     high priest, and he worked  at

    this high-level job for 27

     years

    After all this

     work

    Bekenkhons must  have

     been

     quite an old man whe

    he  died Hornedjitef probably also had to work his

    way

     up to the

      top.

    the

    What did priests and

     priestesses

     actually do in

    ancient  Egypt?

     Religious

      scenes on temple walls sh

    only the ruling king standing with and serving the

    gods. This

      is

     because

      the

      ancient

     Egyptians

      believe

    that

     only

     the

     king

     was

     special enough

     to

      talk direc

    to the gods. In

     real

     life, however, it was priests like

    Hornedjitef who

     served

     the gods. The ancient

    Egyptian

     word for priest  means "god's servant" so

    the

     priests

     had to  look

     after

     the

     statue

     of the god

    goddess

     of a particular temple. The statue of the g

    was   kept  in a shrine

    Training

    priest

    riest

    Serving

    gods

     

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    There were different ranks or

      levels

     of

     priest, each

    doing a different job. P riests were paid for  their

    work,

     according to the importance of their

      particular

    job. The lec tor-priests read and made copies of

    sacred

      books.

      K a

      priests served the  ka, or

      spirit

      of

    mummies. Other

      priests  called

     the  hour

      priests

    decided

     when  it was the

     right time

     to  hold a festival

    or a service. They did this by carefully watching the

    movements of the  moon  and stars to

      tell

      them  the

    time.

     Other

      priests carried

     the

      close d shrine after

    the god's statue had been taken out. Some priests

    and priestesses were  singers and made music

     during

    festivals  and

     services

      in the temple.

    As

      a god's serva nt or high priest,

      Hornedjitef

     was

    one of the few people allowed to  touch  the  statue of

    Amun, the god of his

     temple.  Hornedjitef  would open

    the

      shrine

     and

     take

     out the

      statue

     of

      Amun. Then

     he

    would  close the  shrine and tell a  lower-level priest  to

    carry  it  around the  temple during festivals.

    Statue  o f Sematawy an   older

    priest.  He has a   shaved head

    and he is

      holding

      a

      sacred shrine

    Hornedjitef would  put  robes

    on

     the

      statue

     and

     present

      it

    with food.

     With

     other  high-

    ranking priests he would  the

    carry Amun's statue around

    the

      temple

      area.

    Priests were  also  involved

      in

    funerals.

     A

      priest

     led the

    procession of

      mourners

      in a

    funeral.  He  would also offer

    prayers  to the  gods as the

    mummy

     was

     taken

      to its

    tomb.

    This  scene  from

      a

      papyrus  shows  people

      a t a

      funeral.

      T he

      d ead

      man has

      been mummif ied

      and is

      waiting

      to be

      taken

      to h

    tomb.  His  w ife kneels beside him crying. Mourners  in a   procession follow behind.

    Priests

    w r

    SERV NT OF THE GOD

     

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    Other

      duties

    Animals were highly prized

      in

     ancient Egypt

     and so

    cattle were usually only killed

     on

      special occasions.

    The

     animals were killed quickly

     in an

      b ttoir  nd

    the  pieces of meat were presented to the

    gods

     during

     festivals. One of

    Hornedjitef's

      titles  says

     that

     he was

     overseer of the abattoir but this

    does

     not

      mean that

     he

     killed animals.

    He was in charge of

     checking

     that the

    meat was kept  clean and used  properly

    in religious ceremonies.

    Another

      of

     Hornedjitef's

      titles

      says

    that

     he was a

      follower

     of the

    queen. We know

     that

     some of the

    Ptolemaic queens were worshipped

    as goddesses when they died.

    Queen Arsinoe II, step-mother  to

    Ptolemy

      III,

     was

     made into

     a

    goddess after her death and it is

    possible

     that

      Hornedjitef was

    also

     one of her

     priests

     as

     well

    as being

     a

     priest

     of

     Amun.

    Limestone statue   o f  Queen

    Arsinoe   II Hornedjitef  m ay

    have been   one of her  special

    priests when

      she was

      made

    into   a   goddess

    Statue

      of an

      Apis bull

    These

    bulls

      were   very  special

      an d

    were looked after careful ly

    Festivals

    funerals

    Throughout

     Egypt the

    priests

     and

     priestesses

     held

    many festivals

     to

      honor

      the

    large number of gods and

    goddesses. The

     more

    important

     gods and

    goddesses had the

      most

    festivals. In the

     Temple

     of

    Ptah at Memphis a

     specially

    picked

     black bull with

     a

    white star

     on its brow was

    treated like a god. The

    priests

     at

     Memphis

     often

    held processions  in  honor

    of the Apis bull,

     thought

      to

    be Ptahs  living

     image. The

    bull had his own servants

    and when he

     died

     he was

    mummified and given a

    special

     funeral. Then the

    priests

     had to

      search

     Egypt

    for another identical bull.

    This

     routine

     went on for

    hundreds

     of  years and was

    particularly important during

    the Ptolemaic period.

      ronze

      statue  o f a

      pri

    named Khonsuirdas Y

    can see   tha t  Khonsuir

      wearing the skin of

    b ig  cat which means

    was   a

      very  i mpo r tan t

    priest l ike Horned jitef

    and

     

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    The  great  gateway of the   Temple   of  Luxor

    One of the

      most

     important  festivals at

     Thebes

     was

    the  Festival of

     Opet

    in

     honor

     of the god

     Osiris.

    Here the statues of the different

      gods

     from

      the

    different temples at Karnak were taken up the

    river  on boats to the Temple of Luxor.  The king

    an d  h is

     family would watch

      th e   processions  of

    people  laughing singing an d

      dancing

     as  they

    followed the statues.

    It is

      very

      likely  th t

      Hornedji tef

      was   married  and had

    children This

      is the

      m u m m y

      of the  wife   of a

      pr iest

      who

    l ived

      in

      Egypt  during

      the Roman

      period

    Washing wigs

    As

     a

     priest Hornedjitef

      had to

      shave

     all the

      hair from

    his  head  and

     body—the  Egyptians believed hair

      on

    priests

     was

     unclean

    Priests sometimes wore wigs.

    Before

     Hornedjitef entered the temple he had to

    wash

     himself.

     Priests

      had to be  clean

     before they

    went

     into the

     temple.

      The

     Greek

     writer

     Herodotus

    tells

     us that

     priests were

     not

     allowed

     to

      wear

    woolen clothing—wool was also thought to be

    unclean

    Hornedjitef wore linen clothes like the

     othe

    priests.

     High-status priests wore the

      skins

      from

    exotic

      cats

      like leopards or cheetahs and Hornedjite

    may

      have done

     the

      same

    Priests

     could get married and it is likely

     that

    Hornedjitef  had a wife  an d family somewhere in

    Thebes After they died h is  wife  and children would

    have

      been

     mummified

    but we do not

     know where

      to

    find

     their

     mummies.

      nd wives

    3

    A SERVANT OF THE GOD

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    T h e  mumm y

     s p e a k s

     

    ummies were often taken from Egypt and sold in

    Europe

     and the United States. Some were

    destroyed when they were unwrapped. Today

    experts do not  need to take mummies apart  in order

    to find out about them

      because

     we  have scientific

    techniques to help us. X  rays are used to help living

    people

     but can

     also

     be

      used safely

     on

     mummies.

    Although X  rays were discovered at the end of the

    19th century they were

      not

     regularly  used

      to

    examine mummies until much

     later.

     X  rays

      have

    proved

     to be

     very

     useful  in

     showing

     us

     what

      is

     inside

    mummy packages. The great archaeologist Flinders

    Petrie was one of the first people to  realize this.